Hat-bodies



UNITED STATES PATEN T THOMAS WALBER, OF NE7 Fries.

YORK, N. Y.

MACHINE FOR FORIVIING HAT-BODIES.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS 'WALBEIQ of the city, county, and State of New York, machinist, have invented, made, and applied to use certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Forming the Bodies of Hats, whereby the fur or wool is laid evenly onto the cone as desired and when the hat is formed it is consolidated by pressure operating to force a sleeve or bag of india rubber o-nto the hat while it is wetted by jets of hot water inside the cone; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexe-d drawing, making part of this specification, wherein- Figure 1, is a plan of the machine complete; Fig. 2, is a sectional elevation of the picker and former and F ig. 3, is a sectional elevation of the consolidating apparatus.

The like marks of reference denote the same parts in all the figures.

a, is a frame carrying by the rollers 1, the apron 2, on which the fur or wool to form the hat body is to be laid.

b, is a roller to feed the material into the machine.

c, is a card cylinder revolving so as to take the fur fro-m the apron.

3, is a guard inclosing a part of the cylinder c, over the edge of which the wire fan brush (Z, pulls the ber and throws them 0H into a trunk e, which is of any proper size and shape and directs the fibers to the former.

This part of the machine so far as described is no more than the ordinary cotton or wool picking or carding machine, and is no point of my invent-ion, and any other machine which will separate the fibers properly and throw them off toward the former may be used. The trunk e, is attached to the frame a, at c, by a hinge or similar means so that the mouth of the trunk can be raised or lowered, while the end at the blower remains stationary; the raising and lowering being effected as hereafter described.

f, is a case inclosing the ordinary rotary fan, or other blower, whereby the air is eX hausted from the former or. cone; 4, is a screw worm on the end of the shaft of the blower g, taking into a horizontal worm wheel 5, which receives through it a vertical shaft L, that has a long key seat to take a key in the wheel 5, by which the shaft L, is allowed to beraised or lowered but at the same time is turned by the pinion 5,-6, 6, are supports by which the pinion 5, is retained in place and the shaft 7L, supported vertically. On the end of and attached to the shaft 7L, is a bridge 7, the ends of which are attached to the upper edge of the thin metal' cylinder 2'-, which has a flanch and groove on its upper end receiving the perforated cone or former It", which is `to be of the desired size and shape. TVithin the cylinder z', is a cylinder Z, connected by a flanch 8, at the bottom to a cylinder m, outside the cylinder z', forming a water space 9, in which the cylinder z', revolves; the height of these cylinders is to be such that the water will form the packing and prevent the air passing in by the suction of the blower g, and also to allow of t-he cylinder z', being moved up and down in the water, and with it the former 7c, by the shaft It, as next described.

On the lower end of the shaft 7L, is a socket 10, receiving a ball joint 11, to the lever n, this ball joint allows of the rotation of the shaft z, and also raises and lowers the shaft when operated on by the lever n, this lever n, is set on a fulcrum 12, and the other end has a slot taking a pin in the jaws of a socket 13 into which a vertical shaft 0, is set with a cross key taking a groove around the shaft 0, so that the shaft and socket are attached together but the shaft is free to turn in the socket. rThe shaft o, passes through guides and the upper end sets under and supports the moving end of the trunk e; on the shaft o, is a screw thread taking the nut 14, and the wheel p, is used to give the shaft a rotation either by hand or by power moving slowly as required. It will now be seen that through the lever n. the cone or former la, is depresse-d while the trunk c, is elevated and vice versa, by the screw shaft o, in the nut 14, and that by this means, only half the eXtent of motion is required that would be necessary if either the coneor trunk alone were moved; the workman by this means directs the fur as it comes out of the trunk c onto whatever part of the former he desires, so as to make it of the proper thickness at the proper place.

rIhe hat is to be hardened as follows. Q,

is a pipe from the top of a steam boiler connected by an india rubber or other flexible pipe to a cock 15, on one side of a hood 7*, of

the shape of the former 7a, but a little larger; within this hood is a bag or lining t, attached to the hood at the bottom end, this lining is of the` size and shape to fit over the former. s, is a circular seat of a size to reoeive the former and also the hood 7', and u, is a pipe and cock from the bottom of the boiler connecting to a vertical perforated pipe or rose 18, passing up inside the former when placed on the seat S, and 19 is an overflow or draining pipe which carries off the surplus water. 'Ihe mode of using this hardener is that the workman takes the former with the hat on it, places it on the seat s, and puts the hood 7', over it or he may place the hood o, over the former before it is removed from the cylinder i, and remove the two together to the seat s, he then opensthe cock 15, which allows steam to enter between the hood r, and lining `t, which forces the lining tightly onto the hat as it is on the former, consolidating it, at the same time he turns the cock 1T which allows numerous small ets of hot water to issue from the perforated pipe 18, which wets the hat by passing through the perforations in the former, wetting and consolidating the hat, the surplus water running off by the pipe 19, and when the hat has been sufliciently operated on the workman gives the hood r, a partial rotation which detaches the hat from the lining and lays the fibers of the hat straight. The workman then shuts the cocks 15 and 17, and opens a valve or cock 16, which allows the steam to escape from the hood r. The hood is then removed and the finished hat drawn off the former.

The hood 7, may have a cord running over a pulley, attached to it, with a weight at the other end so that the workman raises the hood up and it is suspended at the required height; and the hood may be guided on vertical rods set around it with gromets sliding on the rods attached to a circular seat that carries the hood, so that the workman sets the former on the seat s, and then pushes the hood down onto it and when the hat is hardened lhe raises the hood out of the way.

Having thus described the Construction and operation of the parts I wish it to be distinctly .understood that t-he apparatus for picking and separating the fur forms no part of my invention, neither does the movable trunk, all these parts being well known and in ordinary use in cotton pickers and gins; neither do I claim retaining the liber on the former by exhaustion by a blower, that being public property having been shown in a patent issued to T. R. VVillia-ms in England in 1833, neither do I claim the use of water to form the packing for the cylinder z', that having been used in other machinery, and hot and cold water have been used in felting cloth and hat bodies, therefore this forms no part of my claim.

I do not limit myself to the screw to raise and lower the former and trunk as a rack and pinion or similar means may be used; but

What I desire to secure by Letters Patent isv 1. I claim the combination of the water packed cylinder 2', former 7c, and sliding and revolving shaft 7i., for the purposes andas described.

2. I claim giving alternate motion to the former 7c, and blower case f, so that one is raised while the other is lowered, in the manner and for the purposes described.

3. I claim the hood 7", with its lining by which steam or other gaseous pressure 1s made to force the bag or lining onto the hat or former inv combination with the standing perforated pipe 18, or its equivalent by which the hat is wetted through the perforations in the former as described and shown.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my signature this sixth day of April one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.

THOS. VVALBER.

Witnesses:

LEM'UEL W. SERRELL, CHARLES TENGELLENT. 

